Shares of Africa’s cement giant, Dangote Cement, have of recent suffered heavy losses on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, as a result of the prolonged crisis between the firm and one of its arch market rivals, BUA Cement.
Share price of Dangote Cement closed the last trading day of last year, December 29, at N230 per share, but opened for the first trading day of 2018 last Tuesday at N230 per share.
Also, the shares traded at N245.80k per share on December 4, 2017,but ended the week, Friday, January 5, 2018, at N223.11k per share.
The cement manufacturer has authorized shares of 20 billion, but as the close of trading activities last Friday, it has an outstanding of 17.04billion with a market capitalisation of N3.8 trillion.
Trading activities of the company this year showed that it lost N7 on the second trading day of 2018 to close at N223 per share, but marginally gained 11k the next day to finish at N223.11k per share, and settled for the week at the same rate after trading flat.
Dangote Cement controls 65 percent of the market share in Nigeria and this was confirmed last year when the firm released its half year financial statements.
“As a result of the slower market, our Nigeria operation sold nearly 6.9Mt of cement, down 21.8 percent on the 8.8Mt sold in the first half of 2016. We estimate our market share to have been about 64.5 percent during the first six months of 2017,” Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Onne van der Weijde, had said.
The BUA Group, in 2017, wrote an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, accusing Dangote Cement of conniving with top government officials of the Ministry of Mines and Steel, including using thugs and agents of the state to ensure that its (BUA Cement) operations in Okpella, Edo State, were disrupted despite a suit pending before a Federal High Court due for hearing on December 5 and 6, 2017.
